


5 Times May Says Thank You to Buck for Rescuing Her and the One Time Buck Says Thank You to May for Rescuing Him

by OreoLuvr13



Series: Buck and May and Some Sibling Love [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, College Life, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Precious Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Protective Siblings, Recreational Drug Use, Sick Character, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OreoLuvr13/pseuds/OreoLuvr13
Summary: Brothers and sisters rescue each other all the time. From the not so big stuff to the big stuff. That’s what siblings do. Why would Buck and May be any different?
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & May Grant (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Buck and May and Some Sibling Love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766836
Comments: 17
Kudos: 589
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	5 Times May Says Thank You to Buck for Rescuing Her and the One Time Buck Says Thank You to May for Rescuing Him

1

“Oh, no no no no,” May says as she looks over her three page paper. The first page is fine. So is the first third of the second page. Then it begins to get light, the letters becoming lighter and lighter until you can’t read anything at all. She ran out of ink. Damn it.

“What’s wrong?” Chiara, May’s roommate asks, taking her ear buds out.

“I’m out of ink.”

“So? Just email it. Or submit it through the online portal.”

May shakes her head. “Can’t. I have Hillinger.”

Leave it to her to get the one professor in the English department who is a freaking dinosaur who won’t accept assignments by email or even set up his online class portal. She looks at her phone. 11:08. Crap. The library is no longer an option since it closed at 11, and it doesn’t open until 8 tomorrow morning, the same time as her English class.

“That sucks. I don’t even have a printer. I just submit all my stuff online. And of course neither one of us has a car, so Staples is out,” Chiara says swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

Freshmen are discouraged from having their cars on campus. Something about promoting community and making the transition to college life easier when they don’t have the means to drive themselves home whenever they feel like it. Whatever the reason is, her mother was perfectly okay with May not having a car on campus. Her philosophy being “We’re not far away. Just call if you need anything. I don’t want a car to distract you from settling in.”

Well for all the good that does her now. It’s after 11 on a Wednesday night, she’s stuck at school with no ink and no way of getting any with a paper due in less than 9 hours. Just great.

“Can you call your parents?” Chiara tries.

May shakes her head. “My dad is on vacation with his new boyfriend. My mom is home but I think she said Bobby is working a 24 hour shift so she’s home with Harry. I can’t call her now to get me an ink cartridge, Not on a school night.”

Chiara bites her lip, frowning. “Well, how about your brother? The firefighter.”

“Buck,” May says, thinking the suggestion over. That might work. Bobby may be in the middle of a 24 hour shift, but Buck got off this morning. He’s probably still up. They were texting a little more than an hour ago about this article Buck sent her on a college elective called “Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse 101.”

“Yeah, Buck.” Chiara says with a dreamy smile. “Your hot brother, the firefighter.”

“I’m sure Eddie shares your sentiments.”

Chiara rolls her eyes. “I’m just pointing out the obvious. And you know if you call him, he’ll bring you an ink cartridge. He brought you those brownies from that bakery you like when that that idiot Derek ghosted you.”

“You’re right,” May admits, grabbing her phone. Buck will help her out if he can.

“Of course I am,” Chiara says, plugging her buds back in.

Sure enough, Buck answers after two rings.

_“May? Is everything okay?”_

She can hear rustling. He was probably already in bed. Shit.“Yeah, everything is fine. But I need a favor.”

_“This isn’t going to get me in trouble with your mom or Bobby, is it?”_

“No, Buck. It’s nothing big. But I have a paper due first thing tomorrow morning and I’m out of ink.”

_“You can’t email it to him I thought all your schoolwork is done online.”_

“Not for this class.”

Buck doesn’t seem too eager to help her out. So she resorts to a little begging. “Plllllease, Buck” Now for a little guilt. “Remember when I didn’t say anything to anyone about you and Eddie for all those months?”. 

_“Fine, text me the number of your printer’s ink and give me some time. I’ll text you when I get there._

“Thanks, Buck.” May says with a smile. “You’re the best.”

Buck gives a tired sigh, agreeing with her before hanging up. With nothing else to do but wait, May lies down. She’s dozing when she gets the text from Buck telling her he’s outside her dorm. She looks to a sleeping Chiara before making her way downstairs. Grateful that her roommate is sleeping. It’s late and May is tired. She’s not really in the mood to watch her roommate trip all over herself when she sees Buck. She’s already seen that a couple of times already.

Buck is wearing a LAFD sweatshirt and basketball shorts, holding up a bag when she sees him. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, thank you!” May says looking into the Target bag. Not only does she see the ink cartridge but a bag of her favorite Fudge Brownie M&M’s. She gives him a hug. “You’re the best!”

He pulls away. “Yeah, I know I am,” he says with a tired grin.

“Eddie wasn’t pissed that I called you, was he? I know it’s late. Chris still asleep?”

Buck nods. “Everything is fine. Chris has been out for the count since nine. Eddie was okay. But he did mention that we might use you one night for your baby-sitting services when you’re home.”

“That’s fair,” May agrees.

“Good, now I’m going to get going. I have a shift tomorrow and I know you have an early class.”

“Thanks again, Buck.”

“No problem, May.”

2

She is so screwed. It’s mid-semester and things are crazy busy. She’s buried with school work and she definitely took on more than she should have in the extra-curriculars department. Somehow in between her schoolwork, club meetings and study groups, she totally spaced that she has an outline due the day after tomorrow in her World Civilization class for her final paper on the Aztecs achievements and their lasting impact.

She has to get to her work study job and after that she’s has Bio Lab. Tomorrow’s no better. Wednesdays are pretty much nonstop for her. In between her Calc, Bio, and English classes, she volunteers in the math lab and there’s a Debate Club meeting at 4.

Truth be told, she hasn’t looked at her World Civ text book since the first week of class. She is so screwed. She doesn’t know a damn thing about the Aztecs, definitely not enough to bullshit her way through a paper outline that’s worth 10% of her final grade, and she has no time to start researching and reading now. Chiara isn’t taking World Civ this semester and neither are any of her friends. Who the hell does she know will know about the Aztecs/ Wait…She knows exactly who to ask.

 **Tell** **me what you know about the Aztecs.**

_Ok….and people say I’m random_

Jesus. She doesn’t have time for this.

**Don’t mess with me. I have to turn in an outline for my term paper on an Aztec achievement tomorrow and I haven’t even opened the book since September**

_Okay. They did a lot._

_Calendar._

_The Codex. Medicine. But you can do a lot with farming._

**Farming?** May texts as she walks into the admissions office to start her three hour shift.

_They did some kickass stuff. Causeways. Terrace farming. Chinampas_

**What the hell is a chinampa**

May can’t but smile when she sees the three dots showing her that Buck is typing a response to her question. She can picture Buck sitting in the firehouse going on and on about Aztec farming tchniques while he’s texting the same to her, no doubt driving her step-father, Eddie, Chim, and Hen crazy.

_Chinampas are floating gardens. They piled up dirt and planted crops on them._

It’s definitely a start. Definitely more than she had fifteen minutes ago.

_You get outta work at 4. Then bio lab?_

Of course Buck would remember her schedule. A couple of weeks ago he came up on a Wednesday night to take her out to dinner when he didn’t get to see her when she came home the weekend before. The reason being that he was was covering Bobby’s shift so that her step-father would be home for May’s visit.

_It’s been kinda slow. I’ll see what else I can find and will send it to you_

Buck really is the best.

**Thanks Buck**

The next text she gets isn’t from Buck. It’s from Eddie.

_What the hell do you have him looking up? And what the hell is a chinampas?_

May can’t help but laugh and replies with a lol.

_Just for this you owe me a night of baby-sitting_

_Any night of my choosing_

_Including weekends_

3

May can’t lie. She can but she sucks at it. Always has. Part of it is probably because as a kid all her mother had to do was give her that look of hers and she would fold in seconds. That’s why she’s careful with her words. She doesn’t come right and lie. She lies by not actually answering the question asked.

“Did you like the chicken?”

It’s fine. (To give to dog if they had one)

“Did you say anything to Buck and Eddie about the bet we have about when they got together?

No (She didn’t say anything. She texted Buck about it though)

“Are you around this weekend? Do you think you can make it to Harry’s robotics thing?”

Sorry, I’m busy. I have to begin working on a big paper in my English class. (And she did. She got all the reading done as well as the basic outline for the assignment)

The last one is the one that’s going to be her own undoing.

Up until now this has worked for her. Her carefully crafted worded answers. But then the freaking deck started to collapse at the party she’s at. Luckily, she was inside so she’s unscathed, but that wasn’t the case for everyone. The good news is that from the bits and pieces of conversation she’s picked up, no one is seriously hurt. But she can’t find Chiara. Chiara went out to the deck to get them a drink and was out there when it started to collapse. May is not leaving there until she finds her roommate. They have a pact. Whenever they went to a party together, they always left together. No matter what.

And of course she finds Chiara, shaken with a couple of bumps and bruises, when the fire department arrives. Not just any fire house, the 118. Just great.

“Come on, C.” May say pushing her around the see of partygoers. “We have to get out of here. My step dad’s fire house is here. I don’t want him to see me and I’m betting the cops are probably on their way.”

“Slow down,” Chiara says, stopping to rub bare ankle. “I think I twisted my twisted ankle when I was running.”

“You okay?” May asks, concern laced in her voice. In her haste to make sure her friend was okay; did she miss something? Was Chiara seriously hurt?

“I think so,” Chiara says standing up, pointing to one of the firefighters. “Hey, isn’t that your brother, Buck?”

May loves Chiara. She really does. And she’s happy that they were paired up as roommates. She’s heard plenty of roommate horror stories. Many of her friends from high school have requested room reassignments a few weeks into the semester. But not her. She and Chiara are already talking about rooming together next year. She’s friendly, but not overly so. Always invites May out to a party or to grab a bite to eat in the dining hall. She showers. Apparently, that’s a problem for some roommates. Gross. She’s considerate. She know when May’s in school mode and doesn’t have time to talk or goof around.

But the one thing Chiara is not, is quiet. So of course, the firefighter turns around to face them. And sure enough Chiara is right, it’s Buck. Shit.

“May! Are you okay?” He asks rushing over to her.

“I’m fine!” May say, dismissing his concern. “I was nowhere near the deck when it started to collapse, I was inside when it happened.”

Buck looks her up and down, no doubt making sure she’s telling the truth. Satisfied, he turns to her roommate. “Chiara, you okay?”

She says she has a couple of bruises. That she thinks she may have twisted her ankle. As he’s kneeling down looking and probing at her ankle, she mouths a sorry to May.

“It’s a little swollen. You’re probably right and just twisted it,” Buck says standing up, turning to May. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a big paper to work on. That’s why you didn’t go home for the weekend.”

She’s about to say that she did work on her paper. But she’s saved from saying another half-truth when someone calls for Buck. 

“Buck!” Another familiar voice calls out as he makes his way over. Eddie. Of course. Where one of them is, the other is not far behind. “What are you doing? Bobby is looking for you.”

Great. All they need is Hen, Chim, and Bobby to find them. Then it’ll be a full 118 reunion.

“I…was...” Buck starts and looks to May. Eddie sees where he is looking to and his eyes soon fall on May

“Hi, Eddie.” Chiara says with a cheerful smile. May elbows her gently in the ribs. Luckily, she gets the hint and shuts her mouth before she can dig them into an even bigger hole.

“May? What are you doing here?” Eddie asks as he stands alongside Buck, ignoring Chiara completely.

“That’s what I said!” Buck says his intense blue eyes on May.

“Like you never went to a party in college,” May starts. Time to go on the offensive. “You were no angel. Didn’t you steal a fire truck when you were first joined the fire department?”

“You stole a fire truck?” Chiara asks, “That is so cool.”

“Now is not the time,” May mutters under her breath to her roommate.

“We’re not talking about the stupid things I did, we’re talking about-“ But Buck is cut of when his radio goes off.

“BUCKLEY?! DIAZ?! WHERE ARE YOU TWO?”

“Shit,” Buck says when he hears Bobby’s voice. “I gotta go. Get out of here.”

Eddie turns to run towards the deck, motioning for Buck to follow him.

“Thank you, Buck.” May says but Buck’s back is already facing them.

“Make sure you elevate your ankle, Chiara. If the swelling gets really bad, get it checked out at health services,” Buck says over his shoulder as he rushes behind Eddie.

“Your brother is so cool,” Chiara says in awe as she limps besides May back to their dorm. “If my sister found out I was at a party she would have ratted me out to my parents in two seconds.”

May looks behind back towards where they came from. “Yeah, he is.”

4

“Are you going to call him?” Chiara asks, standing beside her roommate, both of them looking at the door to their room. The door that is no longer on its hinges.

“I don’t want to,” May says. What possessed them to take the door to their bedroom door in their dorm suite off the hinges. Oh yeah, that’s right. They needed to use it as an extra table top to play flip cup. It seemed like a great idea weeks ago when they needed a longer table to play flip cup. They meant to put it back on its hinges. But then there were term papers, study groups, and…life.

Now it’s three weeks later and they don’t have any idea where the screws are and the RA’s start their room inspections this week. Looking for any little infraction to rack up fines. Last semester they got fined for having a non-university approved microwave. If May didn’t know better. she would think they get a share of the total dollar amount of fines they hand out.

“I know what you mean, but I’m still hearing about that speeding ticket I got last summer,” Chiara says. “Besides, your brother will be better about this than your parents.”

“You’re probably right, I’ll call him,” May admits taking out her phone to make the call.

“Hey, Buck.”

_“Hey May, what’s going on?”_

“You don’t happen to have a drill, do you?”

No sense in avoiding the inevitable, just ask.

_“A drill? Why do you need, you know what forget it. I don’t want to know.”_

“So does that mean you have one?” May asks, biting her tongue.

_“Yes…”_

“Are you doing anything today?”

_“Besides driving up to your dorm to fix something, no.”_

“Awesome. Thanks, Buck.” May says giving her roommate a thumbs up.

Chiara mouths a “thank you” and pops a gummy bear into her mouth.

_“Eddie is working so Chris will be making the trip with me. Tell Chiara to put anything away that she doesn’t want an eleven year old to see.”_

She laughs when Buck ignores Chris when he asks what he shouldn’t see.

May looks over to her roommate’s side of the room. Clothes are all over the place. A red solo cup from the night before is on her desk. A pack of pot gummies sitting on top of her laptop. She understands Buck’s unease. The last time Buck dropped by unexpectedly, Chiara was still in class. But the Bicardi Pineapple from the weekend before, along with some edibles were in plain view.

“I’ll tell her.” May says.

_“Okay, give me a couple of hours and I’ll be there. Maybe after we’re done fixing whatever you broke, we can grab dinner at that Thai place off campus.”_

“Thanks, Buck.” May says before hanging up.

“He’s coming.” Chiara says when she sees May’s face. “Oh thank god.”

“Yeah and he’s bringing Chris,” May says, tilting her head to the side.

“So? Why are you giving me that look?” Ciara asks. “I love that little dude.”

May nods her head. Of course Chiara loves Chris. Everyone who meets him does. She met Chris last year when she went home for one weekend with May and has seen him at least a half a dozen times since then.

“Everyone does. Still you have to pick up your side of the room,” May says motioning to her roommate’s messy bed and desk.

“Aye’ captain,” Chiara salutes. Her smile bright and her left eye is already drooping a little. A sure sign that her friend is already feeling the effects of the gummy bear she had earlier. The one she just ate hasn’t even hit yet. Chiara‘s family owns a dispensary in Colorado, so she has been around marijuana most of her life leading her to be very open about her marijuana use. She has never pressured May to partake. And that’s why May like Chiara so much.

“And do me favor? Maybe lay off the gummies until after Buck and Chris leave?”

“You got it May May,” Chiara says as she starts throwing her dirty laundry into a clothes basket.

Yeah, she’s definitely feeling the gummies. This is going to be a fun afternoon.

**XXXXX**

“So was this for flip cup or beer pong?” Buck asks later that afternoon as he’s kneeling on the ground, drilling in the last of the screws. May eyes go wide, but Buck is looking away so he doesn’t see her face.

“Despite what others think, I did go to college,” Buck says. “Even got my degree in history.”

“You have a degree in history?” May asks. Buck has been in her life for five years and she’s still learning new things about him.

Buck stands up, assessing his handywork. “Yeah, why else do you think I know all that stuff for your world civ class.”

May leans against the doorway. “I know you read a lot. I just thought you came across that stuff when you were looking up other random stuff.”

Buck runs a hand over the newly reattached hinges. “Nope, my concentration was in ancient cultures.”

“I didn’t know that,” May says. Interesting.

“Well it’s not like my degree in history is getting a lot of use with me working at the LAFD,” Buck says with a shrug.

May can’t help but frown. She hates it when Buck puts himself down.

“So is this something we have to talk about?” Buck asks, glancing quickly into the suite’s living room where Chris and Chiara are playing a game of Mario Kart.

“You having a history degree? We can if you want to?”

Buck shakes his head. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“The door? You fixed it?“ Buck rolls his eyes with May’s evasiveness. “You know what I mean?”

“I party here and there. Nothing big, everyone does it. It’s not out of control or anything. I mean, I did made the Dean’s List both semesters last year,” May says. “I promise.”

Buck runs a hand through his hair. “Just promise me that you’re not going to get on housing probation or censure.”

“Housing probation or censure?” May asks. “What is that?”

“Like where you have to make posters about the dangers of drinking too much within an hour and post them in the dorm after one too many write ups.”

“Is that even a thing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Buck says. May can tell from the way Buck is biting his lip, that he knows for a fact that it is indeed a thing.

“I promise that won’t happen.” May says.

“Good, it better not.”

She’s about to dig for more information about the housing censure thing. How did Buck seem to know so much about it, when Chiara lets out loud curse, followed by Chris letting out a louder laugh.

Buck motions with his head towards the living room, smirking “So how stoned is she?”

May smiles at the change in lighter mood. “She was a little nervous when we couldn’t find the screws for the door, so she may have had a gummy or two before I called you.”

Buck rolls his eyes. “Does that mean she’s coming to dinner with us?”

“Awww, come on!” Chiara yells from the living room.

May smiles. “What do you think?”

5

May opens the door to her darken room and leans back against it, exhausted. The semester is winding down which means it’s time for study groups, exams, papers, and groups projects. She flips on the light. Not surprised that Chiara isn’t back yet. Her roommate has a big group project for her Ancient Alternative Medicine Class. She’s probably still at the library.

May kicks off her shoes and puts her bag on her desk chair. Her bed is calling her name. But a package sitting at her bed, stops her. Chiara must have brought it in some time when May was at class and or the library. She picks up it up, frowning when she doesn’t immediately recognize the messy handwriting. Her frown turns into a smile when she sees the return address. She opens it eagerly and starts to go through the contents of the package,

-A card from Chris. She smiles when she reads it. _Good Luck May! Can’t wait to see you, Love, Chris. PS. Ask Chiara if she’s ready for a rematch_

-New Tangle toy- _Give this to Chiara so she stops taking yours_

-Container of butter pecan cookies (her favorite)- _Don’t worry, I made these. Not Eddie, so they’re edible_

-Starbucks gift card- _Figured you could use some caffeine_

-Bags of her favorite candy (Fudge Brownie M&M’s, Sour Patch Kids, Skittles)- _Study snacks_

-Bag of Ranch Straws- _Your mom will kill me if I only give you junk food_

-Pack of her favorite black pens- _Your mom told me that your book store doesn’t have these in black. Just blue. I hate blue ink too_

-Container of silly string- _Don’t forget to have a little fun. You’re only in college once_

May quickly changes into her pajamas and gets into bed. Her hand already in the open bag of M&M’s, when she takes out her phone to send a text.

**Thank you**

She’s knows she probably won’t get a response. Buck just got off a 24 hour shift at 10.

**I’m coming home on Friday, the 19 th**

She doesn’t know why she’s telling Buck that. He more likely knows this already.

**I’ll baby sit for you guys that Saturday**

+1

May’s sorting through her laundry. She’s starting to run out of clean clothes and really needs to do a load. She should have done this before but she didn’t have time with everything that was going on. Now that things have settled down a little it’s time to do all the mundane, everyday things that have taken a backburner over the last week and a half.

She loading a load of lights into the washer when her phone rings. If this was two weeks ago when her biggest worry was finishing up her English lit paper and that Deja wasn’t doing her fair share of the group project work in her Government of the Developing World class, she would have probably ignored the call. But not now. She quickly grabs her phone and her heart flutters when she sees who’s calling.

“Buck? Everything ok?”

_“’Need to rescue me, May.”_

May can’t help but grimace when she hears the raspiness in Buck’s voice. It’s not surprising though. Buck spent six days on a ventilator and has only been off of it for the last four. She’s read all about how traumatic it is on the throat to have it in as well, as well as how rough it is on the throat when the patient is extubated.

“Oh no. I’m not springing you from the hospital. I heard Bobby talking to my mom this morning. You’re already harassing the doctors about discharging you? Are you crazy? You only gotten out of the ICU a couple of days ago,” Mays says as she contemplates adding another pair of pajama pants to the washer.

_“Gave up on that.”_

Buck says before letting out a deep, barking cough. May holds her phone away from her ear and waits until the coughing stops. “You okay?”

_“Uh huh”_

“Sure you are,” May says closing the washer and hitting the start button. “You gave up that quick? Eddie threaten you?”

_“And your mom and Maddie.”_

May can’t help but let out a laugh as she leans against the washing machine. It feels good to laugh. There hasn’t been a lot of that going around lately. Not with Buck on death’s door until just a couple of days ago when his health finally turned the corner.

“Why am I not surprised. Wait, how did you even get your phone back?” May asks putting a load of dirty jeans in an empty laundry basket.

_“Part of deal. I…stop asking bout going home…I get my phone.”_

May feels sick when she hears how out of breath Buck is after just a couple of sentences. “Buck, I think we should hang up. You need to rest.”

 _“Wait...don’t hang up.”_ Buck voice rises as much as it could. Still just a shell of its usual volume.

She knows she should hang up. Buck clearly needs to rest, but the pain and desperation in Buck’s voice stops her. “I’m here.”

_“Can you…get Chris for me? Want to see him.”_

May frowns. Grateful that Buck can’t see the look on her face. Yes, a visit from Chris will do wonders for Buck, but at what cost. He’ll put 100% into putting a smile in his face to make Chris think that everything is okay. But May knows otherwise. She knows how bad things were just a few days ago. Buck needs to put his all into getting better at the moment and nothing else. 

“Buck, I don’t know if that is a good idea. Didn’t you just see him yesterday? I’m sure Eddie can bring him by after his shift is over.” 

Eddie went back to work today. The first time since Buck was admitted to the hospital more than a week ago. He wasn’t exactly happy about it, but he had to do it. The other members of the 118 were running on fumes, covering both Eddie and Buck’s shifts during the duration of Buck’s hospital stay.

_“Eddie’s out at 8.”_

Past visiting hours. “He can bring Chris by tomorrow,” May tries.

_“His sisters…coming in tomorrow.”_

Which means they’re going to want to see Chris. Buck is probably thinking that there won’t be much time for a trip to the hospital.

_“Please, May. One...favor.”_

Damn it, Buck. He does do a lot for her. Came to her rescue on more than one occasion. He’s the best nonblood, brother she can ever ask for. She closes her eyes. Thinking of the first time she walked into Buck’s ICU room after her mom picked her up from school. Seeing him laying there so still, unable to speak because of the ventilator. The feel of her heart pounding when the doctors told Maddie and Eddie that they should call Buck’s parents. Her mom biting back “Buck’s parents are already here.”

_“May…you there?”_

May wipes away a stray tear. “Yeah, I’m here. He’s at Eddie’s grandmother’s, right?

**XXXXX**

Less than two hours later, May and Chris are making their way off the elevator and heading towards Buck’s room. She’s been on this floor for the last three days and knows exactly where to go. Chris is smiling at her side, excited about seeing his Buck.

“Hey, Kathy.” May greets when she see the nurse outside of Buck’s room.

“Hi, May.” The nurse replies with a warm smile. The nurse turns to the person at May’s side. “And who is this?”

“Chris,” he answers, holding out his hand.

She smiles and shakes his hand. “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you. I heard a lot about you.”

“I know,” Chris says with a nod.

May and Kathy share a laugh. May looks around the nurse and into the room and it looks like Buck is sleeping.

“You can go in; he’ll probably wake up soon. He’s been sleeping for a while.” She sees the look on May’s face. “That’s a good thing. It’s exactly what his body needs,” Kathy says before she turns to go into another patient’s room.

Good. Buck listened to her. She said that she would bring Chris to see him but with some conditions. First, the visit will be for an hour and that’s it. No argument. Second, that he was to rest before they got there. That means no phone. Third, May would end the visit if she saw that it was getting to be too much for either Buck or Chris.

Buck quickly agreed, Then again Buck was so happy for the chance to see Chris that he probably would have agreed to anything. 

“You ready?” May asks Chris. She can’t help but smile when he nods his head enthusiastically. “Come on then.” She says leading the way into Buck’s hospital room.

Buck’s been in the hospital for over a week now and May still can’t get used to the sight. He’s so pale, his birthmark a strong contrast to his wan appearance. He looks thinner than he’s ever seen him. She’s never seen his hair this unkempt, the ends curling to his forehead and behind his ears, a combination of no hair product and the fever, albeit much lower than the scary 103 than it was just a couple of days ago, still playing havoc with his body.

Chris doesn’t seem fazed in the slightest. He’s just so happy to be able to see Buck. He doesn’t care what Buck looks like. This is only the second time since Buck’s been in the hospital that Chris been allowed to visit him. Kids aren’t allowed in the ICU and Buck was still painfully weak when he first got into a regular room. The doctors, Eddie, and everyone thought Chris should hold off on visiting until Buck was a little stronger.

“May,” Chris says, pulling on her sleeve. He looks to her and then to the bed.

“Oh right, hold on.” May says as she gently picks him up and places him on the bed besides Buck. She’s about to tell him to be careful when he beats her to it. “I know, be careful.”

She rustles his hair playfully as she takes the familiar seat besides Buck’s bedside. They don’t have to wait long before Buck begins to stir.

“Hi, Buck.” Chris says as he inches even closer to Buck’s side when Buck’s eyes begin to flutter open.

“Hi, bud.” Buck says sleepily.

“May brought me to see you,” Chris says.

“She did, huh?” Buck says with a slightly crooked smile. Man is he drugged to the gills. “She’s the best.”

May rolls her eyes. Like her not bringing Chris was ever an option. Buck saves her when she needs it. Like the time with the ink cartridge, her history assignments, and that time with her dorm room door. It’s only fair that that she’s there for him when he needs her.

“Thank you,” Buck say with a smile.

Yeah, her mom is probably pissed that she left laundry in the washer and dryer.Yes, Bobby is still waiting for her to take her presents from under the Christmas tree and bring to her room. And she may have cancelled lunch plans with a couple of her high school friends. But, seeing Buck smile like this is well worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> The +1 is a scene from an upcoming multi-chapter fic I’m in the middle of writing. Here’s a little taste: As the daughter of a cop and a step-daughter of a firefighter, May is well aware that all it takes is one bad call to change everything. Still that does little to prepare her when she returns to her dorm after taking her last final for the semester to find her mother waiting outside her door, in civilian clothes and a day earlier than planned. Wasn’t her mother supposed to be working today? That was part of the reason why she was going to spend tonight in the dorm and go home tomorrow. Something’s wrong. She knows it’s bad when her mom pulls her into a tight hug only breaking away to pull a piece of her daughter’s wayward hair behind her ear and whispering, “Pack a bag, May. You’re coming home.” She doesn’t have time to ask what’s wrong. “It’s Buck, baby. It’s bad.”


End file.
